Jakarta – A three-member Amnesty International team is headed for the remote Indonesian province of Papua to carry out human rights work and investigate alleged rights violations, a rights group in the province said Saturday.

Indonesia's easternmost province of Irian Jaya was officially renamed Papua yesterday as part of an autonomy package aimed at reducing support for independence.

R.K. Nugroho, Jayapura – Jayapura Police apprehended 42 students involved in a violent antigovernment demonstration in the city on Saturday, but some were later released after questioning. The 42 students were arrested because they attacked security personnel after being asked to disperse peacefully.

Jakarta – Police in Jayapura, the capital of Irian Jaya province were seen beating defiant protesters on Saturday in an attempt to break up a demonstration which was held to protest themurder of proindependence figure Theys Hiyo Eluay.The protesters gathered outside the provincial legislative building, which was already tightly guarded by the police.

Jayapura – Indonesian police beat protesters with sticks in rebellious Papua province on Saturday to break up a demonstration over the murder last month of pro-independence chief Theys Eluay.

Tiarma Siboro and R.K. Nugroho, Jakarta/Jayapura – Bowing to intense public pressure, the government announced on Thursday that it was forming an independent team to investigate the November 11 murder of Irian Jaya independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – A member of the rights commission's fact-finding team on the death of Theys Hilo Eluay claimed there were already strong clues that might shed light on the case, but without presidential intervention the police would be unable to unravel the murder any further.

R.K. Nugroho, Jayapura – As many as 50 Irianese religious leaders and local figures expressed on Wednesday support for the government's plan to give special autonomy to the resource-rich province of Irian Jaya.

Jayapura – Just four days before President Megawati Soekarnoputri is due in Irian Jaya's provincial capital of Jayapura to hand over the much-awaited Autonomy Law to Papuan elders, students in the country's easternmost province are already intensifying their protests rejecting the proposed wide-ranging autonomy.

Agence France Presse in Jakarta – Hundreds of students occupied the Parliament in Indonesia's restive province of Irian Jaya yesterday, demanding an independence referendum instead of a new autonomy package from the central Government.

Indonesian Army Chief general Endriartono Sutarto rejected allegations that the military was behind the murder of an Irian Jaya pro-independence leader and vowed to punish any soldier implicated in the case.

Jakarta – Indonesia's army commander indicated for the first time that rogue troops may have killed a separatist politician in Irian Jaya province last month. "If it is one of my men who did it, [then] this is an action without any orders," General Endriartono Sutarto said after meeting President Megawati Sukarnoputri on Wednesday.

R.K. Nugroho, Irian Jaya – Papuans are becoming increasingly impatient with the slow pace of the investigation into the death of independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay, who many believed was murdered for political reasons.

Jakarta – More than 1,000 students and youths demonstrated peacefully in Irian Jaya Tuesday to demand quick answers over the murder of pro-independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay last month, police said.

Jakarta – Some 30 people from Indonesia's rebellious Irian Jaya province rallied peacefully outside the UN mission here on Thursday, accusing the military of being behind the murder of separatist leader Theys Hiyo Eluay.

Jakarta – Two rebels were killed and two wounded when some 100 members of the separatist Free Papua Movement attacked a police outpost on Wednesday in Indonesia's easternmost province of Irian Jaya, a report said.

Ian Timberlake, Jakarta – The mysterious death of charismatic leader Theys Eluay threatens to inflame desires for independence in Irian Jaya, the vast province occupying the western half of the island of New Guinea.

Jakarta – The Jayapura-based offices of the Irian Jaya chapter of the Independent Journalists Alliance (AJI) were attacked and damaged by an unknown person or group on Sunday, a report said.

"The attackers smashed the office's ten glass windows with stones," chapter chairman Fritz Ramandey was quoted by Antara as saying.

Slobodan Lekic, Jakarta – Wracked by separatist struggles across its vast chain of islands, Indonesia is being especially haunted by a referendum 32 years ago that former United Nations officials now admit was a sham.

Alan Boyd, Sydney – Don't play with fire near gasoline, Theys Hiyo Eluay once warned Indonesia of its ruthless efforts to assimilate the 225 tribal groupings and hundreds of languages and dialects of Irian Jaya.

Chris McCall, Jayapura – It is a crude report from one tiny area of the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya.

It lists 614 people who all died violent deaths between 1969 and 1998. In the column for "doer", all entries contain the word "Abri", an abbreviation for the Indonesian military.

Sentani – Indigenous separatists in Irian Jaya province have threatened to retaliate against settlers from other parts of Indonesia, following the recent killing of their pro-independence leader Theys Eluay.

Activists from across the far-flung province – also known as West Papua – have been gathering in Mr Theys' hometown here for tomorrow's funeral service.

Jakarta – The secretary-general of the proindependence Papuan Presidium Council (PDP), Thaha Al Hamid, said in Jayapura on Thursday that Papuans (indigenous people of Irian Jaya) wanted the government to guarantee their right to life despite their constant demands for freedom.

Asip Hasani and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta/Yogyakarta – Despite internal conflict among Papuan leaders, the 'murder' of pro-independence figure Theys Hiyo Eluay is believed to have been triggered by vested political interests of members of the political elite in Jakarta.

Chris McCall, Jayapura – Accompanied by thousands of grieving supporters the murdered Papuan separatist leader Theys Eluay was escorted home for the last time yesterday in his coffin, draped in the banned Morning Star flag.

R.K. Nugroho & Jupriadi, Jayapura/Makassar – Thousands of people, including many university students, on Tuesday accompanied the ambulance which was carrying the body of Theys Hiyo Eluay from the provincial legislative council building in Jayapura to his residence in Sentani.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – As Jakarta came under pressure to mount a credible investigation into the death of Papuan independence leader Theys Eluay, his widow and human-rights activists charged that he was killed by military personnel or someone with a military background.

Jakarta – President Megawati Soekartnoputri's political party on Tuesday condemned the (suspected) murder of Irian Jaya independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluai and urged that the security authorities uncover the mystery surrounding his death.

Darren Whiteside, Jayapura – Around 10,000 pro-independence supporters in Indonesia's remote Papua province marched peacefully behind the body of their dead leader on Tuesday, making the long trek to his home town.

Rydha Arlini, Jakarta – Tom Beanal, Vice President of the Papuan Presidium, believes that the death of Papuan Presidium's President, Theys Hiyo Eluay, would not discourage the Papuan from continuing with their struggle. On the contrary, he said the incident would fire up the struggle.

Protestors set alight buildings in the hometown of Irian Jaya independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay, whose body was found after he was abducted in the remote Indonesian province, an activist said.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Lost in the recent hoopla of Parliament's approval of special autonomy for Irian Jaya is the fact that four of the separatist-inclined province's leaders remain on trial for subversion.

R.K. Nugroho, Jayapura – A legislator has called on Jayapura District Court to free the Papua Presidium Council's functionaries from subversion charges, as what they have fought for has been accommodated in the newly endorsed law on special autonomy for Papua.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives rushed to pass the special autonomy bill on Papua (Irian Jaya) into law at midnight Monday after a last-ditch effort to solve the contentious issue of revenue sharing.

RK Nugroho, Jayapura – The proindependence Papuan Council Presidium (PDP) asserted on Saturday in Jayapura that it would reject the Special Autonomy Law on Irian Jaya which will come into effect on Tuesday.

R.K. Nugroho, Jayapura – Trikora Military Command chief Maj. Gen. Mahidin Simbolon confirmed on Wednesday in Jayapura that the military had conducted raids of rebels' camps in Kali Kopi village, Mimika regency, Irian Jaya.

Jakarta – Indonesian security forces regained complete control of the Ilaga airfield on Thursday after it had been occupied by rebels of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) for about a week, reports confirmed.

Jakarta – Hundreds of separatist rebels are still holding an airfield after attacking the town of Ilaga in the rugged central highlands of Irian Jaya and torching several buildings, Indonesia's military and police said Monday.

Jakarta – An Indonesian court ordered mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia on Tuesday to improve its toxic waste management after it was found guilty of giving false information over a fatal accident at a mining site last year.

Jakarta – Two soldiers were killed and five people were wounded in a shootout between police and troops in Indonesia's easternmost province of Irian Jaya, police said Tuesday.

Rodney Joyce, Aiwo, Nauru – South Pacific island nation leaders on Friday backed Indonesian plans for autonomy in Irian Jaya rather than the independence Melanesian separatists are seeking for the restive province.

Brussels – Two Belgians held hostage for over two months by a separatist group in the Papua New Guinea jungle have been released, the Belgian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

Jakarta – Pro-independence leaders in Irian Jaya and Aceh were unmoved Thursday by President Megawati Sukarnoputri's apology for past suffering inflicted on the restive Indonesian provinces.

Craig Skehan, Nauru – A senior member of the Irian Jayan independence movement who slipped into Nauru for the annual gathering of Pacific island leaders despite an official ban, made an impassioned plea for regional support before being deported.

Jakarta – Australia has urged fellow members of the Pacific Forum not to debate independence for Indonesia's Irian Jaya province at its annual meeting this week, an Indonesian MP said Monday.

Hamish McDonald – A Sydney law professor will head an international study into whether there are grounds for a legal challenge to the incorporation of Western New Guinea into Indonesia in the 1960s.

Widespread police operations have been underway since March this year in the district of Manokwari in the Bird's Head region of West Papua, following armed attacks on two logging companies. In the second of these incidents, five Brimob officers were killed. Retribution against the population has led to many civilian casualties and thousands of villagers fleeing to nearby forests.

Jakarta – The assemblyman for Irian Jaya has warned controversial mining company PT Freeport Indonesia not to interfere in the country's political affairs, including the election of the Mimika regency chief. "The company should only take care of its gold, copper and silver mines, and has no right to take part in the nomination of a Mimika regency head," he stressed.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives' consultative body agreed on Thursday to put forward a controversial special autonomy bill for Irian Jaya proposed by Papuan legislators, but at the same time acknowledged that the government's own bill on the subject would remain the primary reference of the deliberation.